The tail of a comet is not suspected to be the cause of unintended acceleration

Toyota
has been hit hard with widespread issues with its Prius and other
cars that have suffered from glitches with brakes or unintended
acceleration. Toyota was forced to recall a large number of its
vehicles to install new parts to prevent wear of the throttle pedal
that was the cause of some of the issues.

The last
headline-making bout of unintended
acceleration happened in early March when police in
California had to help a motorist who was reportedly unable to stop
his Prius from accelerating. Detnews.com reports
that the U.S. Transportation Department has announced that it intends
to launch a pair of major
investigations that will seek to determine if vehicle
electronics or electromagnetic interference are to blame for
unintended vehicle acceleration incidents that have been rampant
recently.

The investigations will be headed by the National
Academy of Sciences and the other will be run by NASA. According to
U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, the investigations will not
focus on Toyota alone and will focus on all manufacturers. So far,
Toyota is the most affected of the automakers and the recall to fix
issues with floor mats and throttle pedals has covered 8.5
million of the automakers vehicles so far.

Since 2000, a total of
3,000 complaints including 51 deaths have been linked to
Toyota vehicles that failed to stop accelerating. Toyota maintains
that EMI and electronics are not the cause of the issue and that
trapped or malfunctioning pedals are the cause.

"Many
members of Congress think it's electronics and I heard enough of that
-- not only from members but from Toyota drivers ... and so we felt
we really needed to get outside experts," LaHood said. "We
are tapping the best minds around."

Toyota added,
"We expect they will bring a thorough and scientific approach to
their examination of the issues. Separating fact from fiction can
only be good for the motoring public and the industry as a whole. We
are confident in our vehicles and in our electronics. We will lend
our full support and cooperation to DOT and NHTSA as they moved
forward."

The investigations will reportedly last 15
months and will seek to find and address any safety issues with any
vehicle on the road today in America. All possible causes for
unintended vehicle acceleration will reportedly be investigated
including electronics, human error, mechanical failure, and
interference with accelerator systems.

According to LaHood,
the department will spend $3 million on the two studies including the
cost of buying cars that have allegedly suffered from unintended
acceleration. The NHTSA has brought in engineers and other experts
for the investigations on topics such as electromagnetic
compatibility among others in an attempt to determine if flaws in
vehicles on the road warrant a defect investigation. The review of
the Toyota electronic throttle control system is expected to be
completed by late summer reports the NHTSA.

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